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Life expectancy rising slowly in the US

LIFE expectancy in the US is rising slower than expected and the blame lies mostly with a history of smoking and an obesity epidemic.

Children born in Japan today can expect to live about 5 years longer than their American counterparts. The gap between Europe and the US is smaller, but widening. A panel set up by the US National Research Council (NRC) has now concluded that life expectancy in the US has risen more slowly than in other rich countries because of smoking, overeating and lack of exercise.

When today’s senior citizens were younger, Americans used to smoke more than people in other rich countries. This accounts for about 40 per cent of the lag in life expectancy for US men – and almost 80 per cent for US women. Obesity is the next most important factor, accounting for between one-fifth and one-third of the US shortfall in life expectancy.

While poor access to healthcare sends some Americans to an early grave, its effects pale beside the damage caused by unhealthy lifestyles, says Samuel Preston of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, co-chair of the NRC panel. “The basic message is that personal behaviours are primarily responsible,” he says.